Two of the UFC‘s most controversial figures will be going head-to-head inside the octagon at UFC 302 on Saturday night.
In the card’s co-main event, Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa are booked in for a five-round war in a highly-anticipated middleweight bout.
Both men will know a lot is on the line in regard to the path towards a title shot but, for fight fans, it’s more than just the middleweight landscape that draws intrigue.
The American and Brazilian are two of the UFC’s most outspoken and controversial fighters – even if the build-up to the fight has been relatively tame!
Here, Mail Sport takes a look at the match-up between the two and also their contentious pasts.
The UFC’s two most controversial figures Paulo Costa (left) and Sean Strickland (right) will finally share the octagon at UFC 302’s co-main event in New Jersey on Saturday night
American star Strickland has proved to be a contentious voice in the MMA community
While Brazil’s Costa has a similar reputation for his antics both inside and outside the cage
Let’s start with Strickland.
From antics both inside and outside of the octagon, the former UFC middleweight champion has been a figure of controversy throughout his MMA career.
Even as he has risen to the top of the division and fought for the UFC title, Strickland has never shied away from his contentious opinions.
Prior to his fight for the middleweight title back in January, against South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis, Strickland unleashed a sexist, homophobic and anti-transgender tirade.
Strickland was asked about a tweet he wrote in 2021, which said: ‘If I had a gay son I would think I failed as a man to create such weakness….. If I had a w**** for a daughter I’d think she just wanted to be like her dad lol!!’
The American was then asked about his tweet by a reporter at a press conference before interrupting and asking: ‘Let me ask you, are you a gay man?
The reporter Alex Lee, replied: ‘I am an ally of the community.’
Strickland said: ‘If you had a son and he was gay you wouldn’t want a grandkid?’
Strickland went on a wild and offensive rant at a journalist in Toronto ahead of UFC 297
Lee said: ‘It wouldn’t be a problem.’
The UFC champion then ranted: ‘Then you’re a weak f*****g man, dude. You’re probably the f*****g problem, you elected Justin Trudeau.
‘He seized the bank accounts, you’re just f*****g pathetic. You have no backbone while he shuts down your country and shuts bank accounts you ask me stupid s*** like that, go f*** yourself, move the f*** on, coward.’
Strickland was later asked about the UFC’s deal with Budweiser, having previously been critical of the partnership following the Dylan Mulvaney controversy.
He continued: ‘Here’s the thing about Bud Light. Ten years ago to be trans was what, a mental f*****g illness. And now all of a sudden people like you (points at journalist) weaseled your way into the f*****g world.
‘You are an infection, you are the definition of weakness, everything that is wrong with the f*****g world is because of you’.
And, if you thought Strickland’s controversial comments were the pinnacle of his wild antics, then think again.
In November, Strickland held a trespasser at gunpoint – after spotting him hiding on his property – before later revealing the man was ‘beating up a girl and fled drunk from security’ before ‘wrecking his car’ near his driveway.
Former UFC middleweight champion Strickland confronted a trespasser on his driveway
He shared footage of the incident on social media with a brief explanation of what happened, hours after it first went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘Here’s what I know…’ the 32-year-old Strickland wrote to start off the caption of his post on Instagram.
‘The guy was drunk stomping out a girl, a security guard seen it, he jumped in his car and drove off. Security followed him, hit a curb, completely shredded his tire, drove on the rim for a while then jumped out and tried to hide at my house.
Strickland caught the trespasser hiding in between two cars parked in his driveway before pointing a gun to his head, as shown by a camera attached to his Ring doorbell.
He then appeared to have knocked out the the trespasser while police arrived at the scene, and before speaking to an individual wearing an orange shirt.
The incident came just two months after Strickland chased a man with a flamethrower in a bizarre viral video.
Furthermore, in February, Strickland stepped into the octagon for a heavy-hitting sparring session with viral personality Sneako and unleashed a flurry of punches on the unsuspecting amateur.
Footage shows the former UFC middleweight champion smacking his inexperienced opponent in the face countless times despite towels flying into the ring to stop the fight.
The trespasser could be seen avoiding arrest and hiding in between two of Strickland’s cars
Strickland stormed out of his home with a gun as he geared up to meet with the trespasser
The incident drew criticism from a number of people in the MMA community, with the likes of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul labelling the stunt ’embarrassing’.
Despite all of this, Strickland’s pedigree inside the octagon is hard to dispute.
His unbeaten streak between October 2018 and February 2022 helped him soar up the middleweight rankings before losing to light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
However, he still managed to clinch the middleweight title back in September after a dominant performance against Israel Adesanya, who many had expected to win.
His time as champion was relatively short-lived however after Du Plessis triumphed across a five-round bout for the belt back in January.
Despite losing to Du Plessis, it’d be hard to bet against Strickland given Paulo Costa’s struggling form in recent years.
The Brazilian comes into the bout with just one win from his last three fights, after falling to defeat against Adesanya, Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker.
The loss to Adesanya back in 2020 is what kick-started his disappointing form and perhaps you can understand why after his post-fight explanation.
Strickland also went viral for chasing a man around with a flamethrower in a video
The Brazilian, 29, entered his middleweight title bout with the champion having not suffered defeat in his 13 fights in mixed martial arts, presenting the biggest challenge to Adesanya to date.
However, the Nigerian-born New Zealander made the title hopeful look second best in an impeccable striking display in Abu Dhabi, securing a second-round TKO to cement his status as the man to beat at 185 pounds.
Costa had mysteriously claimed that he had encountered an issue before the bout, and clarified that the consumption of a bottle of wine to aid his sleep was the reason behind his lethargic display.
‘I was a little drunk when I fought. Maybe I had a little hangover,’ he admitted in a video on his own YouTube channel.
‘It was my fault and I don’t blame anyone else for it. It was something I chose myself, but I had to sleep because I hadn’t done it in the last 24 hours.
‘I drank wine. Lots of wine. A whole bottle of wine to fall asleep. I had one drink and it didn’t work. Two drinks and it didn’t work. Half the bottle and it didn’t work. And in the end I drank it all.’
From there, Costa’s antics began to spiral and, for his next bout against Luke Rockhold, the Brazilian continued to push the boat out with his actions.
Costa – who has been drug-tested more times than any other UFC fighter in history – wasn’t impressed with USADA when they knocked on his door early in the morning to perform a test.
Meanwhile, Paulo Costa began his controversial antics after his defeat to Israel Adesanya
Costa claimed that he was drunk during the fight – which saw him miss out on the division title
The previously unbeaten Brazilian insisted on Twitter that his ‘sober’ self remains undefeated
Prior to his bout with Luke Rockhold, Costa turned up to weigh-ins with his ‘Secret Juice’
In response, Costa walked out to his weigh-in for the bout with a bottle than had a big label on it reading ‘Secret Juice’.
Reflecting on the stunt, he said: ‘Secret juice, the people think it’s just a joke but no, I really drink this and this help me a lot.
‘I put a mix of ingredients here that helps me. If I tell you the whole thing I have here it will no longer be secret, understand? It will be ‘revealed juice.’ The people start to call me Chad. I think Chad is a nice guy.’
While that particular stunt was relatively tongue-in-cheek, there have been other ordeals where Costa has shown a darker side.
Back in November 2022, prior to the World Cup, Costa launched an astonishing attack on the Brazil national team for being ‘feminists who apologise for being straight and white’.
‘Brazilian soccer team were respectable when they had drug dealers to make party’s officials,’ he tweeted, somewhat incoherently.
‘Shemale f***** like Ronald at 2006 or 2002,’ he added. ‘Now they all are feminists or apologise for being straight [and] white. They cannot win the World Cup, sorry. Bring old times back.’
Just two months prior to that incident, Costa made news in Brazil after being accused of assaulting a nurse over a vaccination card.
Back in November 2022, Costa launched an astonishing attack on the Brazil national team
The controversial MMA fighter said that they needed to ‘bring the old times back’ with players now seemingly too focused on being ‘feminists’
The nurse who accused him of assault claimed the UFC fighter tried to get a vaccination card despite not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to Costa, who responded to the claims via a post on social media, the fact the woman’s face showed no apparent bruises in the photos proved his innocence.
‘This assault, that she accused me of, never existed,’ he said. ‘Not this assault, and not any other assault form me to any woman or person. I vehemently deny this fact and would never do, especially an elbow to the face, like this person alleges.’
Although Robert Whittaker defeated him in February, Costa knows it’s a four-man race for the middleweight title shot – between himself, Strickland, Whittaker and Whittaker’s next opponent Khamzat Chimaev.
‘I think once he already beat (Israel) Adesanya, if Adesanya beat Dricus (Du Plessis), I think and if Sean beats me, he’s going to be the next. But let’s see. You never know. I have a beef with Adesanya, as well, and against Chimaev. Anything can happen. Let’s see Saturday.
‘I think who delivers better is going to step in front. It depends how the fight is going to be. If I knock out him in great style Saturday. If the fight in Saudi Arabia is not so good, we can be in front. It depends on how we’re going to perform.’
